Certibal Learn

Accounting accounts by economic sector

Not every business uses the same accounts. A farm needs land and a harvest inventory; a factory, raw materials and work in progress; a school, income collected in advance; a software company, licences and their amortization. Pick a sector to see which accounts of the chart define it.

1Primary sectorExtraction of natural resources

It obtains resources directly from nature.

Agriculture
Livestock
Fishing and aquaculture
Forestry

27 characteristic accounts →2Secondary sectorTransformation

It turns raw materials into finished products.

Manufacturing
Construction
Energy industry
Crafts

45 characteristic accounts →3Tertiary sectorServices

It produces no material goods: it provides services to people and businesses.

Trade
Transport and logistics
Tourism and hospitality
Education

41 characteristic accounts →4Quaternary sectorKnowledge and information

Activities based on knowledge, innovation and information management.

Research and development
Information and communication technologies
Strategic and scientific consulting
Higher education and specialized training

26 characteristic accounts →5Quinary sectorHigh-level decision-making and creativity

The newest and least defined sector: activities of top specialization and decision-making.

Top corporate management and CEOs
Senior government posts and diplomacy
Creative industry
Cutting-edge science and space exploration

26 characteristic accounts →

How to use this guide

Characteristic accounts: the ones that best define each sector. Each sector page has a note explaining how they are used there.
Common accounts: 41 accounts, such as cash, banks, suppliers, taxes, payroll and capital, are used by almost any business.
Several sectors at once: a factory with its own shop uses accounts from both the secondary and the tertiary sectors.

Matrix of the 108 accounts by sector

A dot means the account is characteristic of that sector or common to all. The column numbers are the sectors: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 3 tertiary, 4 quaternary and 5 quinary.

Search an account

Code	Account	1	2	3	4	5
1101	Cash on hand	●	●	●	●	●
1102	Petty cash	●	●	●	●	●
1103	Cash at bank	●	●	●	●	●
1104	Cash equivalents	●	●	●	●	●
1105	Short-term investments				●	●
1110	Accounts receivable (trade debtors)	●	●	●	●	●
1111	Notes receivable		●	●
1112	Allowance for doubtful accounts		●	●	●
1113	Due from related parties					●
1114	Employee loans and advances			●
1115	Other receivables			●	●
1116	Input VAT (VAT recoverable)	●	●	●	●	●
1117	Prepaid income tax	●	●	●	●	●
1120	Merchandise inventory			●
1121	Raw materials inventory	●	●
1122	Work in progress	●	●
1123	Finished goods inventory	●	●
1124	Goods in transit	●	●	●
1125	Inventory obsolescence allowance	●	●	●
1130	Prepaid expenses	●	●	●	●	●
1131	Advances to suppliers	●	●	●
1140	Undeposited funds			●
1201	Land	●	●
1202	Buildings	●	●
1203	Machinery and equipment	●	●			●
1204	Furniture and office equipment	●	●	●	●	●
1205	Computer equipment	●	●	●	●	●
1206	Motor vehicles	●	●	●
1207	Leasehold improvements	●	●	●
1208	Construction in progress	●	●			●
1209	Accumulated depreciation	●	●	●	●	●
1210	Right-of-use assets	●	●	●	●
1211	Investment property					●
1220	Goodwill				●	●
1221	Software and licences		●	●	●	●
1222	Accumulated amortisation		●		●	●
1230	Investments in associates				●	●
1231	Long-term receivables	●	●	●	●	●
1232	Deferred tax asset		●		●
1233	Security deposits			●
2101	Accounts payable (trade creditors)	●	●	●	●	●
2102	Notes payable	●	●	●
2103	Bank overdraft		●	●
2104	Current portion of long-term debt	●	●
2105	Wages and salaries payable	●	●	●	●	●
2106	Social security payable	●	●	●	●	●
2107	Withholding taxes payable	●	●	●	●	●
2108	Output VAT (VAT payable)	●	●	●	●	●
2109	Income tax payable	●	●	●	●	●
2110	Accrued expenses	●	●	●	●	●
2111	Interest payable	●	●	●	●	●
2112	Customer advances (deposits)	●	●	●	●	●
2113	Deferred revenue		●	●	●	●
2114	Dividends payable	●	●	●	●	●
2115	Due to related parties					●
2116	Employee benefits payable			●	●	●
2117	Provisions	●	●	●	●	●
2118	Credit cards payable			●
2201	Long-term bank loans	●	●
2202	Lease liabilities		●	●	●
2203	Bonds payable		●
2204	Deferred tax liability		●
2205	Post-employment benefit obligations					●
3101	Share capital	●	●	●	●	●
3102	Share premium (additional paid-in capital)				●	●
3103	Treasury shares				●	●
3104	Legal reserve	●	●	●	●	●
3105	Other reserves				●	●
3106	Revaluation surplus	●	●			●
3107	Retained earnings	●	●	●	●	●
3108	Profit (loss) for the year	●	●	●	●	●
3109	Dividends declared	●	●	●	●	●
3110	Head office current account					●
3111	Owner's drawings	●	●	●	●	●
4101	Sales revenue	●	●	●	●
4102	Sales returns		●	●
4103	Sales discounts		●	●
4104	Service revenue		●	●	●	●
4201	Finance income (interest income)	●	●	●	●	●
4202	Other income	●	●	●	●	●
4203	Gain on disposal of assets	●	●		●	●
4204	Foreign exchange gain			●
5101	Cost of goods sold	●	●	●
5102	Purchases	●	●	●
5103	Freight-in	●	●	●
5104	Purchase returns		●	●
5105	Purchase discounts		●	●
6101	Salaries and wages expense	●	●	●	●	●
6102	Employer payroll taxes	●	●	●	●	●
6103	Rent expense	●	●	●	●	●
6104	Utilities expense	●	●	●	●	●
6105	Depreciation expense	●	●	●	●	●
6106	Amortisation expense		●	●	●	●
6107	Bad debt expense		●	●	●
6108	Insurance expense	●	●	●	●	●
6109	Professional fees	●	●	●	●	●
6110	Advertising and marketing			●	●	●
6111	Repairs and maintenance	●	●	●	●
6112	Fuel and transport	●	●	●
6113	Office supplies	●	●	●	●	●
6114	Royalties and franchise fees		●	●	●	●
6115	Bank charges	●	●	●	●	●
6116	Interest expense	●	●	●	●	●
6117	Foreign exchange loss			●
6118	Income tax expense	●	●	●	●	●
6119	Loss on disposal of assets	●	●	●
6120	Travel expenses			●	●	●
6121	Other expenses	●	●	●	●	●